Lever attachment for rakes



(No Model.)'

D. F. OLIVER.

, LEVER ATTACHMENT FOR RAKES, 8w.

N0.s"73,902. Patented Nov. 29, 1887.

\ or arm which is operated by it.

DOCTOR r. OLIVER, or

.ATENT rica.

HUNTSVILLE, MISSOURI.

LEVER ATTACHMENT FOR RAKES, 81,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,902, dated November 29, 1887.

Application filed April 27, 1887. Serial No. 236,303. (No modclJ 'souri, have invented an Improvement in Lever Attachments for Horse Hay-Rakes; and I hereby declare the following to be afull, clear,

and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to a lever attachment for rakes or gatherers, and it is especially applicable to that class of gatherers shown in Patent No. 330,727, issued to me November 17, 1885.

My present invention consists of a novel lever and holding mechanism, which is fixed upon the push-pole of the rake within reach of the driver, and'devices by which the connecting rod or bar is actuated for the purpose of raising and lowering the teeth by two or more impulses.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my improved mechanism fixed to the push-pole of the rake and the end of the connecting rod Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken through the standard or guide and the slotted attachment to the lever, showing the pawls and the rack. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the upper portion of the standard A.

In moving-the rake-teeth'up or down by means of an ordinary lever it is necessary to give so mu. h distance between the fulcrum of loaded.

the lever and its lead that it is difficult to obtain sufficient power to elevate the teeth when In my device, by a system of auto matically-operating pawls and'a loosely fulcrumed lever, together with a rack attached to the connecting arm or bar to be moved, I am enabled to move the parts by short impulses, so as to obtain all power that is necessary to effect the desired result.

A isa standard which is bolted upon the push-pole just in-front of the drivers seat, and this standard has a slot made through it in the direction of the line of the push-pole, as shown.

In the bottom of the plate B, and just in front of the standard A, is a slot into which the lower end of the lever 0 extends, moving loosely up and down in this slot, which serves as a fulcrum for the lever without the necessity of pivoting. The object of this is to allow the lever to have a slight vertical movement when the pawl is passing over the teeth of the rack, as will be more fully described hereinafter. The lever is long enough, so that its upper endfurnishes a convenient handle for the operator to take hold of and move it backward and forward when desired.

A piece, D, is bolted upon the side of the lever, so as to form a s1ot,which is in line with the slot in the standard A, and through this slot the toothed rack E passes. This rack is secured to the rear end of the bar F,which extends forward to the rake head or frame, and by moving this bar back or forward the raketeeth are elevated or depressed at will. Above the slot in the lever is a pawl, G, which has a lug, H, fitting in a corresponding groove in the upper part of the piece D, which is bolted to the side of the lever, as before described. The lower end of this pawl is beveled, so that one side stands at an angle while the other side is nearly or quite vertical, and by means of a projection or handle, I, at the upper end, it may be turned around in its case, so as to present the vertical side either toward the front or the rear at will.

In the upper part of the standard A is a vertical hole extending down into the slotin the standard, and in this vertical hole is placed a pawl, J, having the lower end provided with a beveled and straight side, respectively, as

shown. At the upper end of the shank of this pawl is a handle, K, by which it may be turned to one side or the other.

L, L, and M are depressions or slots made in the top of the standard A, into which the shank-handle K may be allowed to rest, so as to hold the pawl in either direction desired. When it is necessary to draw the arm F back, so as to raise the rake-teeth, the two pawls G and J are turned so that their beveled or iu- I clined faces are toward the front and their straight or holding faces toward the rear. By moving the upper end of the lever 0 forward the pawl G will slip over the teeth of the rack, the lever rising in its socket or fulcrum-slot to allow this to occur, .and after it has been thrown forward to thelimit it is drawn back,

and the straight or holding portion of the pawl G will engage a tooth of the rack, and thus draw the rack back. As the inclined or beveled portion of the pawl J is toward the front, it will allow the rack to slip beneath it, the pawl rising and fallingin its guide-hole as the teeth of the rack pass. Vhen the lever has been fully drawn back and it is necessary to throw it forward for another movement, the holding portion of the pawl J will prevent the rack moving forward, and will retain it while the lever moves forward for a new hold. In 'this way by short impulses the rack and the bar F may be drawn backward until the front of the rake has been raised to the desired height.

When it is necessary to force the rake-teeth down, the two pawls are turned around, the pawl G being turned by its handle, so that the straight or holding portion will be toward the front, and the pawl J is simply lifted in the guide-hole until the handle will clear the top of thestandard A, and it may be turned around to a position opposite its former one and allowed to drop into the guide-slot L upon that side, when its holding or vertical portion will be toward the front. The movement of the lever C will then reverse the movement of the rack, and the connected rod or bar F until the rake has been forced down,which it is necessary to do in some cases. When it is desired to throw the pawl J out of action altogether, it is turned so that the shank of the handle rests in the slot M,which is shallow, and thus holds the pawl out of contact with the rack beneath.

By means of the lip 0, formed in the back of the lever C, and a corresponding point or hook, N, formed on the front of the standard A, upon which the lip rests, the lever may be lifted up and its pawl entirely disengaged from the rack E, so that the lever, being supportedby these twolips, remains at rest, while the rack is allowed to reciprocate back and forward to allow the rake to follow the undulations of the ground. The front part of the lever or the attachment D has a projection or bulb-like portion, P, which, when the lever is thrown forward to near its extreme limit, will press upon the top of the rack E, and, by an additional slight movement forward, it will raise the pawl G from the rack-teeth, so as to allow the rack to pass freely through the slot in the lever, and this allows the rake-teeth to be lowered,when desired.

The device is very simple in its operation, and enables me to either raise the teeth or force them to the ground by short impulses, thus multiplying the leverage or power, and it enables the operator to raise any desired load by a slight expenditure of power,while by former devices the entire lift must be made with a single movement of the lever.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The tilting rake, the slotted standard, and the slotted lever fulcrumed with relation to the standard so as to admit a rack-bar to pass through the two slots,in combination with the reversible bevel-pointed pawls G and J, fixed in the lever and the standard, respectively, so as to engage the teeth of the rack-bar to move and arrest it alternately as the lever is moved back and forward, substantially as herein described.

2. The slotted standard and the pivoted slotted lever, through both of which the rackbar passes, in combination with the vertical pawls in the lever and standard, said pawls having one side of the point beveled or inclined and the other made vertical, so as to engage the teeth of the rack, the pawls being reversible in their guides, so as to presentthe holding-points either to the front or the rear, substantially as herein described.

3. The slotted standard and the pivoted lever, through both of which the rack-bar passes, the reversible holdingpawls fitted in the lever and in the standard, respectively, as shown, together with the guides or slots in the top of the standard, whereby its pawl may be reversed, so as to face in either direction, or raised entirely out of contact with the rack, substantially as herein described.

4. The vertically-slotted standard and the loosely-fulcrumed slotted lever, through both of which the rack-bar passes, the operatingpawls in the lever,and the standard, as shown, in combination with the holding-catches upon the standard and lever, whereby the latter maybe drawn back and held, substantially as herein described.

5. The vertically slotted standard and loosely-fulcrumed slotted lever, through both of which the rack-bar passes, with the operating-pawls, in combination with the protuberance or bulb upon the front of the lever, whereby the pawl in the lever may be raised out of contact with the rack, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

DOCTOR F. OLIVER.

Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsE, H. 0. LEE. 

